


The Dragon Of Barian

by kira_hayashi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: graphic description of transmutation, past lifes of signers, temporary character death but this is zexal so nothing new
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:35:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25692154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kira_hayashi/pseuds/kira_hayashi
Summary: With the change of one past life, everything changes and now the Seven Barian Emperors consist of six Barians and one dragon.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8
Collections: Yu-Gi-Oh! Big Bang 2020





	The Dragon Of Barian

A long time ago the Crimson Dragon and its dragons were worshipped as Gods, a kingdom built in their name. The Signers were the kings and queens of the land, connected to the dragons by a small part of the dragon’s soul which was placed into the human's soul. The throne was either passed down to the child of a ruler or someone they choose. It was not uncommon for the royals to wed each other or someone outside, or inside, the castles walls. The fragment of their dragon's soul was simply passed down to the next Signer when they took the throne. This story follows the child of two of the Signers. Not a child by blood but their child nonetheless. One day, not long after their wedding, Jakku and Kurou, the kings under the rule of Red Demons Dragon and Black Feather Dragon, found a baby on their doorsteps. Hair as fierce as Kurou’s and eyes as bright as Jakku’s. The two men never questioned where exactly the child came from or if they were simply a gift from the Crimson Dragon itself. They named their child Vector, derived from Gamma Ursae Majoris, a star located in the Big Dipper asterism. They proudly showed their new child to the dragons who also fell in love with the tiny human immediately. Black Feather Dragon especially seemed to get a special soft spot for the tiny baby after they tried to grab onto his beak with their tiny hands. Yuusei, the king under Stardust Dragon, kept jokingly claiming to be Vectors uncle, since the three of them had grown up like brothers. Soon he was officially Vectors uncle. Aki, the queen under Black Rose Dragon, and Lua und Luca, the king and queen under Life Stream Dragon and Ancient Fairy Dragon, adored the small child as well. Little Vector continued to be a little ray of sunshine, even if they woke up their fathers in the dead of the night because they were hungry. And the dragons kept teasing Jakku and Kurou about the fact that Vectors first word was “dragon”. They were also present when Vector took their first steps. 

Vector grew up to be curios child, always off to explore the castle under the careful watch of the servants or nearby guards. And more than often Kurou had to climb up trees or furniture to get his child down from there. Luca always found herself in the library with Vector, who eagerly wanted to know about the kingdom and the dragons. She knew how to tell a story and Vector always listened with a shine of excitement in their eyes. 

Even from a young age Vector knew that they would take one of their fathers' throne once they were old enough. So, they worked hard studying the economy system of the kingdom, social structure, the relationships between other kingdoms and royals. The Crimson Dragons and its servant's role in the universe and therefore their own. Vector knew it was their destiny to serve under either Red Demons Dragon or Black Feather Dragon, to help the Crimson Dragon protect the world from evil. 

To that they had a servant of their own. 

A card was in Vector’s crib when Kurou and Jakku found them: Number 65: Djinn Buster. To Vector it looked scary almost menacing, blades where hands should be, a wing sharp as steal and a mask that covered its face. Aki explained to them that the dragons as well had a card form but to them it merely served as a catalysator to be summoned by the Signers during battle. But unlike the dragons, Buster never left its card or at least showed itself to Vector. But like the others, Vector kept the card close to them. 

Once they were old enough, Vector was taught how to use many weapons, though they favored the sword. They got private lessons from the army instructor who trained with their fathers. They seemed to have a natural talent for the sword and were a quick learner. 

Soon they would be 16 and take a throne. 

Jakku and Kurou started to argue about which throne Vector should take, which dragon they should serve. The arguing grew worse with each passing day as Vectors birthday and crowning ceremony came closer. It got so bad that Jakku and Kurou couldn’t hold a single conversation without screaming at each other about it. And Vector just wanted them to _stop._ So, they spent all of their free time in the library, researching about the passing of the dragon's souls' fragment, the former Signers, just anything that could help them. Nights were spent restless trying to think of a solution. It broke their heart to see their fathers like this. And after _months_ of trying to find a solution they could only think of one way. One single way to stop the seemingly never-ending dispute of their fathers. So, they snuck out in the dead of the night and entered the dragon's temple, knowing full well what they were about to ask them. To ask the impossible of them. 

It took a while to get through the labyrinth like hallways, a way to prevent outsiders to reach the dragons lair, with only the Signers and their possible successors knowing how to navigate through the complex. 

“Vector, my dear, what are you doing here at such a late hour?”, Ancient Fairy spoke softly as they entered the big wide hall where the dragons rest. 

“You should be in bed, young one”, Stardust agreed. 

“I’m fully aware how late it is”, Vector spoke after respectfully bowing before the dragons. 

“Something is troubling you”, Black Feather concluded. From a young age Black Feather always had a sort of father instinct towards the human before him, if it came from his connection to Kurou or his own parental instincts, he couldn’t tell, “It’s about Jakku and Kurou, isn’t it?” To that Vector nodded and Red Demon growled annoyed. 

“These two are getting on my nerves! Why can’t they just talk it out like two normal adults?!” 

“You and Black Feather aren’t much better, you know”, Life Stream teased him and had to duck away from a small flame Red Demon threw at him. 

“Knock it out, you two”, Black Rose warned them, her thorns growing in her annoyance at them. 

“Vector, why are you here?”, Ancient Fairy asked. 

Vector took a deep breath to calm their nerves, “It is about my fathers, yes. The only thing they do is fight about whose Signer I should be, who I should serve. They can’t even _talk;_ they’re only screaming at each other. And I hate to see them like this”, the dragons noticed the shaking in their voice, clearly worked up about all of this, “And I tried to find a solution. A way to make both happy - proud of me. But I _can’t_. If I become the Signer for Red Demon, I would disappoint dad. And if I choose Black Feather, papa will be unhappy. Nothing I could think of would work. I went through all records of former Signers, history of this kingdom and even everything from before that I could find. But there weren’t any records of a situation like mine. And I have been thinking-” 

“Vector”, Ancient Fairy cut them off, “What is it that you are proposing to us?” They all knew that Vector was about to ask them something immense, something that took them a lot of courage and nerves. 

Vector was shaking at this point, body tensed up and tears stinging their eyes, their fathers dispute weighting on them. They took a deep breath to calm themselves down, got down on their knees and bowed to Red Demon and Black Feather. 

“I am asking you, pleading you, with all humble respect, please let me be the Signer of both of you!” 

The audible gasp of all six dragons echoed through the hall and they began to murmur between themselves. 

“This in unheard off” 

“No one ever asked that of us” 

“They are really arguing this badly?” 

Red Demon and Black Feather shared a look. Then Red Demon rose up to his full height, the movement silencing the other four dragons. 

“Vector, do you understand what you are asking of us?”, he asked, looking down at the child who seemed to make themselves even smaller. 

“Yes”, they answered, “I know something like this never happened. And that I’m asking the impossible of you. But I-” 

“Vector”, Red Demon cut them off and held his claw out in front of them, encouraging them to climb on it - something they had always done from a very young age - and Vector did, “Black Feather and I have a proposal for you” 

“Red Demon, what are you?”, Stardust asked but Red Demon didn’t pay him any attention, just like Black Feather who moved next to him. 

“Just like your fathers, Black Feather and I are lovers and while Jakku and Kurou were blessed with you, the two of us are longing for a child of our own”, the dragon brought his other claw up, gently wiping away the tears staining the little humans face, careful not to injure them with his clawed fingers, “And what you are asking of us would come with a high price” 

“Two dragon souls can’t coexist in one body”, Black Feather continued, “Even if they’re fragments. They would fuse together and form a new dragon. Our child. But...” 

“It would hurt”, Red Demon took over again, “It will be painful and will leave everlasting marks on your body. Even we can’t describe how painful it would be for you. Yes, that would make you be able to take both thrones and act as a Signer for the two of us” 

“But you have to understand what you’re asking us for. The risk you are taking. You might not survive the pain” 

“I’ll do it”, Vector answered without hesitation, determination in their eyes, “If I can make both my father's happy and fulfill your wish of a child, then I’ll do it” 

“Are they serious about this?”, Black Rose hissed quietly to Ancient Fairy. 

She only shook her head, “Their minds are made up” 

Gently Red Demon lowered Vector back to the ground who got off his claw with a small jump. “It will take some time for the soul fragments to fuse so you won’t be noticing anything right away”, the dragon explained 

Vector nodded. 

Then Red Demon and Black Feather began. An aura glowed around them and a small spherical light emerged from each of their chests. Both floated over to Vector and sunk into their chest at the same time. Warmth spread through their body, like a fireplace you sit in front on a cold winter day, and a gentle breeze on their face, like the winds during spring that signal the start of new life. 

“Come to us when the first changes are visible”, Black Feather told them. Vector nodded and left the temple with a small “Thank you” 

It took a few days for the fusion to start and Vector woke up with their eyes stinging and feeling dry, the room felt much brighter than usual and they had to put the blanket over the window of their room to darken it and yet they still saw everything clear as day. When they went over to the mirror hanging on the wall they saw why. Their pupil was split like a reptile and their usual violet iris had an orange-reddish tone to it. To that their motion felt a bit sluggish so it took more time than usual to get dressed. Once they left their room, Vector had to squint a lot since the hallways felt too bright as well. 

They ran into Jakku. 

“Vector, there you are. What’s wrong?”, he asked when he noticed his child's constant squinting. He took their face in his hands and looked at their eyes, “Is there something in your eye? Should we go to Aki for-?”, Jakku went silent when he caught a glimpse of Vectors eyes through the squinting. 

“Vector, open your eyes. Right now,” he demanded. 

“Everything feels to bright and it hurts”, still Vector complied and opened their eyes a few seconds. Seeing Vectors eyes caused Jakku to panic. 

“Vector, what HAPPENED?”, he screamed, which made Vector cover their ears, “What happened to your eyes?!” 

In that moment Kurou came down the hallway, having heard his husband screaming, “What's wrong??” 

“Vectors eyes! Something happened!” Curious and a bit scared Kurou went over to his child and Vector opened their eyes again for Kurou to see. 

“We’re going to the dragons. Now!”, Kurou grabbed Vectors hand and almost dragged them all the way over to the temple. 

“Fathers, please calm down. I was about to see them anyways”, Vector tried to calm them down but to no avail. 

When they reached the hall the dragons where already expecting them. 

“Vector, how are you feeling?”, Black Feather asked while Red Demon held out his claw again for Vector to climb on. Once they did, he brought them up for them to look at them closer. 

“My eyes are stinging and everything feels to bright”, they answered while both dragons took a closer look at their eyes. Ancient Fairy came closer as well and looked at them. “I see. It might take a bit but I’m sure your eyes will adjust to it, so do not worry, child” Vector just nodded but that didn’t really calm Jakku and Kurou down at all. 

“What is going _on_!?”, both yelled at the same time, “Why are their eyes like that?” 

“Vector, you didn’t tell them yet, didn’t you?”, Black Feather asked. 

“Told us _what_ ?”, Kurou’s voice was filled with panic. Vector hesitated a bit, still sitting in Red Demons claw, and looked down to their fathers, “You two kept arguing about who’s Signer I should be. I knew it would be a difficult decision to make but you two can’t even _talk_ properly to each other. And that hurts. So, I tried to think of a solution that would make both of you happy. And I…”, the next words felt heavier on their tongue than they imagined, but a gentle nudge from Black Feathers beak calmed them a bit, “So I asked Red Demon and Black Feather to be the Signer for both of them" 

“What?”, Kurou asked confused. 

Jakku was angrier, “What do you mean by this? You know that becoming a Signer means to take a fragment of the dragon's soul into one's own" 

“I know, father, I studied the process of becoming a Signer for years" 

“They came to us a few days ago", Ancient Fairy interrupted, “desperate to find a solution for your dispute. So, they asked to become the Signer for both of them, which, yes, never happened before. We were surprised as well" 

“But Red Demon and Black Feather already agreed", Stardust added and looked over to the two dragons, Vector still sitting the Red Demons claw. 

“What exactly is going to happen to Vector? And what about their eyes?”, Kurou was more scared for his child’s safety then he ever was. Black Feather answered his Signer, “Since two dragon souls can’t coexist in one body, both of the fragments will fuse together and form a new dragon." He looked down to Vector, a gentle look in his eyes. “They agreed to be the host of Red Demons and mine child" 

“A child?”, Kurou asked with a bit of disbelief, “I knew you two are in love… but Vector, why?” 

“Fathers, it’s okay. I’ll be fine and you two don’t have to argue anymore”, Vector said with a small smile and Red Demon lowered them back to the ground. 

“Vector, why didn’t you talk to us about this?”, Kurou asked worried, “Jakku and I could have come to an agreement” 

“You didn’t have to go to such lengths”, his husband added. But Vector just shook their head. 

“You would have tried to talk me out of this. And I really tried thinking of other solutions, but none would have made both of you happy. Besides, it’s a great honor to become the host of their child”, they smiled. Both their dads shared a concerned and worried look, but they knew they couldn’t change anything. 

“Jakku, Kurou”, Red Demons spoke up and all three humans looked up to him, “While our child grows inside of Vector, it will leave more visual marks on their body then just their eyes. Whenever you notice a new change, come and see us immediately” Both men nodded and then they left the temple. Back at the castle they told the others as well as the kingdoms council, whose job is was to aid the kings and queens in democratic affairs and running the kingdom. 

A few weeks passed and Vector had undergone some more changes. Their eyes completely changed color to an orange-red that filled out their entire eyes, they grew more teeth and all of them became smaller and sharper. Vector spend an entire week eating mashed food because they couldn’t chew from the pain. Their nails became sharper and harder, almost being able to slice through a sword. But everyone started to panic when Vector complained about a hellish headache one morning and a horn started to grow out of their skull, right in the middle where the one from Red Demon is placed. Jakku and Kurou immediately dragged them back to the temple, Yuusei and the others followed them as well. 

“There is a _horn_ growing from Vectors skull!”, Jakku straight up yelled when they entered the big hall inside the temple and that seemed to alarm the dragons. 

“Are you sure?”, Ancient Fairy asked while Red Demon and Black Feather leaned down to them and looked at Vectors head. 

“Considering that it looks like Red Demons, yes, I am very sure about that!”, the blond yelled back. 

“Love, please don’t yell at the dragons”, Kurou, despite being completely shaken by worry, pleaded to his husband. 

“Loud. Hurts”, Vector mumbled, their fathers loud voice only making the headache wore. Jakku immediately kept quiet. All six dragons leaned closer to Vector to get a look at them and then a concerned and confused look crossed their features. 

“This was... unforeseen”, Stardust said. 

“What?”, Yuusei spoke up, stepping next to his brothers. 

“While the dragon souls have started to fuse like we anticipated, we did not see that coming...”, Ancient Fairy spoke again and looked at the human, “The dragon souls _and_ Vectors soul are starting to fuse” 

“What? How could that happen? Our souls never fused”, Luca asked. 

“That is true”, Ancient Fairy answered her Signer, “But as our Signers you only had one dragon soul inside of you. But Vector is hosting two souls. Something that was never done before” 

“But what does that mean for Vector? What is going to happen to them?”, Kurou took Vector in his arms, distraught and anxious about his childs wellbeing. 

“Vector is not just the host of the new dragon”, this time Life Stream spoke, “They are becoming the new dragon” 

“What?!”, all six kings and queen yelled at the same time. That caused Vector to flinch and Kurou immediately held them closer and whispered apologies to them. 

“So, they will turn into a dragon?”, Jakku asked in disbelief, gently running a hand over his childs head. 

“Please, don’t be angry”, Vector said. 

“We’re not angry. We’re very worried about you”, Kurou told their child and both he and Jakku took their child in a tight hug. 

From that point on, things just kept getting worse. 

Just a few days later, another horn started to grow out of Vectors head right next to the first one. Shortly after, a third one formed, resembling Black Feathers beak horns. Their hair was staring to fall out on their right side where the horns were growing, while a small part of their still existing hair turned itself red, like the part of the dragon's mane. Then the castle was filled with Vectors anguished screams and whimpers as their bone structure of the right side of their face started to morph and twisted into a spitting image of Red Demon. 

All the while Luca and Aki brewed them medicine to numb the pain, but only to a small degree and they didn’t dare to use a stronger potion, fearing it might end up killing Vector instead. Whenever the pain would be too strong, Jakku and Kurou would bring them to the temple where Life Stream would try to numb the pain but that didn’t show any better results. Sometimes they would simply bring their child to the temple for them to find comfort in the dragon's presence, lying the Black Feathers soft feather while Red Demon kept them warm. 

Then more parts of their body turned into black leathery skin, left hand becoming a claw and left leg growing longer and more muscular. Even at this stage of transformation it was clear that most of their appearance would look like Red Demon. A tail started to grow not long after, loricate and hard-shelled with feathers at the tip like Black Feather but the tail tip shaped like the others’. It was pure hell, for all of them. Vectors pained screams echoed through the entire castle, shaking it to its core. Even the town people were kept awake at night by the horrific screams. That was, of course, when Vector wasn’t knocked unconscious by the unbearable pain they went through. It became so bad that the dragons wished they would have said no. No matter how much they longed for a child, they wished it wouldn’t hurt Vector so much. Not even a child of their own could justify the horror the child had to go through. But nothing could be changed anymore, the souls were too far fused to undo anything. Whenever Vector was knocked out by pain, everyone feared that they might not wake up again, but the strong dragon heart beating in their chest kept them alive. Vectors throat grew the shells of Black Feather as well as the armor like shoulder plate along with a crystal connecting to the chest. Red Demon again. Spike-like legs sprung from their sides, twisting out from the spine and tearing through skin. At that point the maids haven’t bothered to change the sheets of Vector bed anymore, even Kurou and Jakku agreed that it wouldn’t make much sense as the new sheets would also be immediately soaked in blood again. By then Vector had already teared apart the duvet covers, soaked the bed in blood from where body parts grew out of their body. Speaking was painful, new vocal cords were constantly forming and twisting around the original ones, even morphing together with them. Therefore, Vectors pained whimpers were slowly turning into soft growls but still strong enough to rattle glass. And after the first time they accidentally set something on fire, the adults decided to take anything flammable out of their room, the bed was kept wet by the maids so it wouldn’t catch fire so easily. They breathed fire a few more times, the flint that was growing at the tip of their mouth kept creating a spark that caused the substance in their glands to ignite. One maid had to be hurried to Life Stream to get immediate treatment against the fatal burns. 

Rumors started to spread through the town, no one knew the source of the screams and growls coming from the castle. Neither the rulers nor the council had made it public what was going on and everyone feared what the truth would be. The kings and queens haven’t showed themselves to the folk ever since it began, annunciations where made by the head council instead. Some rumors where that the wailing came from the kings and queens, that they had done something to anger the dragons and were now being punished. Since it was public knowledge that Vector would turn 16 soon, some said that it was them and that they already started the ritual of the passing but since they were still not of age yet it went wrong. Which wasn’t all that far from the truth but since no words left the castle it was all but speculations. Weeks passed and almost every night the entire town was kept awake by the screams and growls coming from the castle. 

No one, not even the Crimson Dragon itself, noticed the dark force that entered the kingdom and wormed itself into the castle and the minds of its inhabitants. Vector was alone in their room, the maids had left a few minutes ago after watering the bed once more and leaving some food for them. Number 65, Vectors guardian, was placed at the far opposite side of the room, far enough away from flames. In their delusional state of pain, Vector could have sworn they saw it standing in the room, watching them, like a presence looming in the dark. Then, for the first time ever, they heard a voice or at least something that resembled a voice. 

**_Run. It’s coming. I won’t be able to hold it back for long. Flee while you can!_ **

Confusion spread through Vectors de- and reforming brain only to be replaced by primal fear. 

Fear of death. 

**_The dragons will protect you. GO!_ **

Driving by the echoes of the voice, Vector crawled out of bed, hitting the floor with a pained groan. _Run. They had to run. Get to safety._ Walking was difficult, running impossible. Fear made them move. Two legs no longer proportioned to each other made them hobble, the tail uselessly swinging behind them, knocking things over. Claw like nails scratching over the cobblestone floor, eyes not able to focus properly in the bright lights that spread through the windows. They tumbled down the stairs, the bones of the wing stubble burning hot with pain, blood splattering all over the stairs from open wounds of transformation. But they were close to the yard. Just across that and they’d close to the exit that lead to the temple. Looking over the yard they saw their parents, together with their aunts and uncles, talking to the council members. _Help_ , Vectors mind screamed at them, _fathers will help!_

They let out a pained groan which got their attention. Kurou and Jakku immediately started to run towards them while they dragged themselves away from the doorway and into the open. Then they heard it, a faint sound, a sound that flared fear in them. _Danger! Danger!_ They reached out to their fathers with their still human like hand. Seeing white pain shot through their body. Dozens of arrows pierced them to the blood-soaked ground. The screams of their family were the last thing they heard. 

The horrified screams of the Signers called forth the dragons and when they saw what had happened a roar of despair shook the entire kingdom to its core. The assassins where immediately arrest, the trail was immediate and not long as they were sentenced to death on the spot and had to face the wrath of a devastated Red Demons Dragon and Black Feather Dragon. A day later, Vectors body was burned on a pyre, the wailing of their family echoed through the land for days. Number 65 was placed in the temple inside a small casket which was then hidden between the statues of the two dragons. Forever forgotten by time. 

This was the last generation of Signers that formed a soul binding connection with the dragons. From that point on the Crimson Dragon would choose its Signers itself, the kingdom built in its name fell apart and soon was nothing more than ruins, the shadow of tragedy hanging above it. 

When they opened their eyes, it was dark around them and cold. They tried to move but pain instantly shot through their body, no sound left their mouth. When their eyes finally adjusted a bit to the dark, they saw weird reddish shapes all around them, something in the back of their mind told them that it was a cave. They were in a cave. But how did they get here? 

_Where am I?_

_Who am I?_

Once more pain flared through their body when they tried to shift their weight. So, they just decided to lay still and closed their eyes again. 

The next time they woke up, it was because of pain. Their back felt like it was burning, twisting with a disgusting cracking sound. When the pain lessened to a bearable amount, they carefully took a look around themselves. Something was moving next to them. And on the other side. All around them too. They tried to call out to whatever was there but they couldn’t hear their own voice. Then they passed out again. 

Everything felt heavier, their body, the air, as if something was pressing down on them. They registered another movement next to them and were able to move their head without much pain, and stared right into the face of some monster. Reflexively they tried to rip their mouth open but nothing happened. A small thought stopped them in their tracks. What stared back at them was a twisted deformed face, one half flat while the other was pulled and dragged out of proportion, a horn grew from the side of their head twisting itself inwards at the top and another grew right above their jaw, shaped a bit like a blade pointing downwards. And while the one side was just a flat like surface, the other one was splitting open, revealing long and sharp teeth, some longer than others. Something gray was sitting on one side of their head. _That’s me._ They glanced over the rest of their reflection. Thin bumpy bones were growing from their back, their arms looked quite the same. When they tried to move to get a better look at themselves, everything started to hurt like hell again, so they lied back down. They took one last look at their reflection and now that they had moved, the hair had moved aside to reveal a big red menacing eye right in the middle of their forehead. _Scary._ Then they passed out again. 

There was a light, small and faint, but there was a light. They tried to find the sorce. Was there an opening to the cave? Could they leave? When they caught their reflection, they saw that the light came from them. From their mouth to be exact. Or at least the weird split across their face with teeth randomly sticking out. They wondered, could they breathe fire? But not with their mouth still not opening. At least it was brighter now and they could see more. But thinking started to become more difficult, it was like their brain decided that they didn’t need to think at all. _Weird_. 

They had no idea how much time had passed since they first woke up. But what they did knew was that the cave started to feel smaller. A lot smaller. Crystals, as they figured out the cave was made out of, kept poking into them, making their body hurt more than it already did. Their moth had finally opened as well, a long and thin tongue rolling out of it, smearing a sickish green liquid all over the place. And their wings were starting to press against the cave roof, the tail already curling around themselves because there was no space for it. They just wanted to get out of there! But pain still made it impossible to move, so they could only lay there, hoping the pain would finally lessen. _Was there no one who could help them?_

A group of six was wandering the red crystal wasteland, all of them clad in long robes, hiding themselves. They were searching for something, or someone. 

“You really think there is one more?”, the one in green asked with a deep sounding voice. 

“Positive,” the one in grey answered, “The middle number is missing. And the numbers seem to be corresponding with the order we arrived. So, that means our missing member arrived after you three but before the tree of us”, they said while gesturing to the three in yellow, green and red and then to themselves and the one in white and blue. 

“Maybe they didn’t make it?”, the red one asked, “We have been searching for _ages_ and didn’t find anyone else”, he emphasized on the fact that they have been searing for a very long time. 

“They have to be here”, the one in blue, the leader, said, “I know they are” 

“But he’s right, Brother. We have been searching for so long and there is no one else here beside us”, the one in white, a women's voice, spoke to the leader, her brother. 

“See, she’s on my side! You agree too, right bud?”, the red one pointed at the much larger one in green. 

“I mean, yeah... We did look everywhere now...”, he answered somewhat hesitant and looked over to their leader. 

“Well, we are not stopping until we looked through every inch of-” 

“Quiet. All of you”, the one in yellow sharply interrupted them all, “Do you hear that?” 

“Hear what? There is nothing here!”, the yellow one threw a sharp glance at the smaller red one when he shouted like that. 

“Well, if you would keep quit for once in your life. I hear a sound not far from here” 

“From where?”, their leader stepped next to the one clad in yellow. 

“Over there”, he pointed in the direction he heard the sound coming from. They all turned to look at the direction he was pointing to. The ground started to shake and rumble. Not far away from them an explosion-like sound rang through the air as part of the ground blew up with a giant smoke cloud. From within the smoke a shadow with a pair of bone-thin wings emerged. With a frizzling and cracking sound, some sort of energy burst from the bones, acting as the flying membrane. The six stared at it in shocked and had to cover their ears as a ground shaking, high-pitched roar shook them to the core as the creature rose from the smoke. 

“What the hell is that?!”, the red one yelled in disbelieve. 

“A dragon”, the yellow one answered. 

“Take it down before it destroys our world!”, the leader commanded as the dragon started to rampage. Fire shoot from its jaw, setting the crystal-like ground on fire and even melting some of the stones. Strong beats of its wings send debrides and rocks flying everywhere as it was trying to fly higher. 

_It doesn't know how to fly!_ The one in yellow realized as he watched the dragon for a bit and immediately turned to his companions, only to see the red and green one summons their beasts, a giant man clad in blue armor with two giant shields on its shoulders, and a giant hand made out of rocks. Both monsters grabbed the dragon and smashed it into the ground. It was then that he realized how _small_ the dragon was in comparison. 

“Stop!”, he yelled, “Don’t hurt it!” 

“What’s your problem, man?! It’s going rampage!”, the red one yelled back. 

“It’s a child!” The other five turned to stare at him in shock. The giant hand was pressing down on the dragon, keeping it immobilized while the other monster had its hands wrapped around its beak-like mouth, keeping it from breathing fire. Then he slowly approached them, the dragon's eyes immediately fixating on him as he came closer, so he held out his hands showing that he was unarmed. 

“Mizael, what are you doing?”, his leader demanded. 

“Alito. Girag. Call back your numbers”, Mizael just said, not paying his leader much attention. The two looked at their boss with an unsure expression, who in turned just gave a defeated sign and signaled them to call back the monsters. As soon as the dragon was freed it growled at Mizael, who was still approaching him. 

“You’re scared, right. You must have been in that cave the entire time”, Mizael kept his voice low, not wanting to startle the young dragon. 

“Nash, are you sure this is a good idea? It just went rampage”, the gray one, Durbe, whispered to Nash, the leader. 

“He seems to know what he is doing. But as soon as whatever he is trying to do fails, we attack”, the other four nodded, prepared to strike on Nash's command. Mizael had reached the dragon, which hasn’t done anything other than making quiet aggressive noises. He then removed his hood, showing himself to the dragon. Long orange-blond hair, decidedly alien mask-like face with a wing prodding out the left side, piercing blue eyes and yellow skin. The dragon seemed spooked by his appearance and crawled a bit backwards. 

“I won’t hurt you”, Mizael assured it, “We scared you, right? It’s fine now. We won’t hurt you” He slowly kept approaching the dragon, keeping his hands stretched towards it. When he was close enough the dragon carefully sniffed at his hands before backing up a bit. But Mizael just stayed still, letting the dragon make a move first. Nash was about to give the signal but instead of attacking, the dragon pressed his snout against Mizael's outstretched hands, laid down and let out a breath no one knew it was holding. The dragon was tamed. Gently Mizael began to run his hand over its snout and looked over to the others, “You can come closer now”, which they did. 

“Sooo, it’s not gonna attack us?”, Alito questioned a bit hesitant. 

“Unless you idiot try to attack first, no”, Mizael growled a bit annoyed. Mizael instructed them to hold out their hands as well for the dragon to sniff at. It relaxed more after taking in their scent. 

“You said it’s child. How did you know?”, Durbe asked. 

“It was trying to fly away but the movements were all uncoordinated. And Alito’s and Girag’s monsters are bigger than it” 

“That’s all?”, the girl, Merag, questioned. 

“More or less. But what gave it away was its voice. It sounds so young and it can’t even form sentences. Just barely words” 

“It has the number”, Nash suddenly spoke and stepped closer to the dragon, “I can feel the missing number from it.” 

“Wait, so this dragon is the missing emperor?”, Durbe turned to look at the dragon, Nash nodded. 

“Does it have name?”, Merag asked Mizael, “Can it tell you?” The dragon seemed to understand her and let out a small growl. Mizael gently ran his hand over its snout again. 

“And I think I know the perfect emperor title for them”, he said and looked the dragon right in the eyes, “The Dragon of Barian, Vector” 

It took _a lot_ of effort to get Vector to the castle, because not only did the young dragon not know to fly but walking was a whole other problem. In the end, Nashs patience meet its end and he ordered Girag to let his Giant Hand carry the dragon. Back at the castle they decided that Vector would stay in the throne room, which was big enough for them to completely spread out their wings and move around, though mostly they were just laying around and staring into space. Mizael spend most of his days teaching the youngling how to walk first before teaching them how to fly. The fact that Vector was more humanoid looking made it easier since it meant that Vector could walk on two legs like them. But that didn’t mean that I was _easy_. Because Vector was like a toddler, which made sense to Mizael despite not knowing how long they had been stuck in that cave, and it was a lot of trails and errors, and a whole lot more avoiding a heavily swinging around tail. Eventually Vector learned how to walk but decided that lying around all day was more comfortable. Mizael wanted to scream. Which he did. Very, very far away from the castle. Next where flying lessons. Which were a whole another level of struggle. Not only had Mizael no real way of showing how they had to move their wings and Vector kept knocking themselves over, NO, Girag and Alito decided it was a good idea to demonstrate flying by throwing Alito out of the window like a cannonball. Which prompted Vector to just jump out of the window as well and the only reason they didn’t hit the ground like a wet rock was very uncoordinated wing flaps and crashing against every. Single. Rock. Saying that Mizael was furious was an understatement. After retrieving Alito and Mizael almost ripping out their throats, both Girag and Alito were banned from ever trying to teach Vector anything ever again. And what was just as frustrating to Mizael was the fact that Merag kept spoiling Vector with affection. There was not a single moment where she was not patting their head or cuddling them or saying “Who’s a good baby~? You are~. You are a good baby~”. Mizael felt like he was in a crazy house. 

“Merag, you can’t keep spoiling them like that!”, he confronted her one day after another failed flying attempt and her cooing all over Vector. 

“Why not? They’re doing their best and I’m encouraging them” 

“You’re treating them like baby!” 

“Well, they are, aren't they? You told us they are a baby”, she defensively crossed her arms and stared him down. 

“I SAID they are a child, but not a baby. Why you-”, but he was cut off by the loud snapping sound of Vectors teeth and the sudden absent of Alito's loud voice. Slowly, he turned around to where Vector was lying, staring at them in shock, who had a very petulant expression. “SPIT HIM OUT, NOW!!”, Mizael screeched and ran over to pry open their mouth. But Vector just made a very stubborn grunt and kept their mouth closed. 

“Oh my, did they just eat Alito?!”, Merag screamed and the other emperors arrived at the scene. Girag immediately went to help Mizael and managed to force their jaw open. They all could see one of Alito's feet sticking out in the back of Vectors maw. “I’m okay”, Alito said. 

“You fucking idiot!”, Mizael crawled into the dragon's mouth and grabbed the others foot and started to pull, Nash and Durbe went to help him while Girag kept Vectors jaw wide open. Meanwhile Merage stepped next to Vector and petted their cheek, saying “It okay, just spit him out. Please. Please spit him out” over and over again. It took them around half an hour, a lot of disgusting gagging sounds from Vector, Nash and Mizael cursing like sailors and Vector almost throwing up TWICE, but they finally managed to get Alito out who was now covered from head to toe in weird green and smelly dragon salvia. 

“Was Alito mean to you? Yes, he was, right? You didn’t mean to eat him. He’s just a big meanie", Merag started to coo all over Vector again with her baby voice. 

“I was not mean!”, Alito tried to defend himself but immediately shut up by the way both Nash and Mizael were glaring at him. In the end, Alito was grounded and had to sit still until Nash allowed him to move again, while Vector was laying in their favorite corner, still mad and glaring at him. They growled at Alito whenever he moved a single muscle. Being grounded lasted for a few days. 

Nash wanted to know if Vector would be able to summon their number, so he and Mizael sat down and tried to find out. Nash demonstrated it to Vector by summoning his number a few times. The dragon always stared at the weird spaceship but that was about it. After a while Nash began to think that Vector was not able to but then they did manage to summon their number. Number 104: Masquerade. But making it appear was the only thing Vector managed to do. Masquerade was just standing there, unmoving and waiting for a command from its master that never came. Around ten minutes later it left by itself and returned into its card. 

“Well, at least they can summon it, that’s a start”, Nash commented and called it a success. Mizael returned to teaching Vector how to fly. It took some time but Vector finally learned how to fly and Mizael immediately continued with working on their stamina so that they could fly for longer periods without getting exhausted. They also practiced Vectors fire breathing by setting up targets. First, they practiced with Vector standing still and just simply aiming at the targets. When Vectors precision was on point, both standing and flying, Mizael let Girag join the training and had him throw boulders into the air as targets for Vector. 

Later on, Alito was allowed to join too, since Durbe pitched the idea to train Vector in close combat training as well, especially with their claws and the sharp, arrow-shaped tip of their tail. During training Alito would summon his number which in turn would copy his movements and fight against Vector. The Barians build a sort of arena where Vector would battle the number and Alito stood on top of the walls where he could see the whole arena. Alito started with some simple punches and slowly build up speed and complexness of his attacks. There was never a routine or strategies to the fights, Vector was simply mentally not capable of such things. They were purely fighting on instincts, which with time improved immensely. At one-point Vector even started to use fire in the fights, which wasn’t a problem for the Barians since they were battling a number. After they were able to counter most of Star Crestus attacks, Nash ordered Merag and Durbe to let Ragnazero and Star Seraph Sentry join Star Crestus, making it a 3 VS 1 fight. At first Vector seemed very frustrated since they kept losing again, but over time they began to win more of the fights. And obviously they were getting spoiled by Merag after every fight they’ve won. Which was still getting on Mizaels nerves and sometimes he just wanted to swan dive into the Sea of Ill Omen because of that. 

Nash was looking over Barian World from the throne room. He knew about the war they have with the Astral World but they didn’t have a way to actually fight them. Since both worlds were pure energy, they couldn’t fight each other directly. And that bothered Nash. Not long ago Durbe found Earth, a third world not far from both Barian and Astral World. Nash played with an idea to utilize Earth as a weapon but he couldn’t come up with a good plan. 

Durbe alarmed him that a passage to Barian had opened from Earth and Nash went to investigate. Inside the gateway he met a human, who was seeking a way to heal his sick son. And Nash got an idea. He offered the man help by agreeing to lend some of his power to Haruto but in exchange the man, Faker, had to help them destroy Astral World. 

And then Vector brought in a stranger they found on one of their daily flights. It was a human, with one half of his face gone and replaced with a dark void. He told them how one of his supposed friends scarified him to open a door to parallel dimensions and that he swore to get revenge. So, Durbe granted him Barian powers in exchange for his help to gather the Number cards, which they needed to battle the Astral World. The human, Vetrix as he now called himself, agreed and they send him back to earth. Not long after that, Durbe confirmed that the Astral Emissary had arrived on earth. 

Nash told the other Barians about his plan of using both Vetrix and Faker to gather the numbers and that Faker was building a weapon to attack Astral World with. And by giving Haruto Barian powers, the child was able to open portals via the machine and then garbage from the human city would be launched at Astral World which then detonated on impact. The plan was working well, both Vetrix and his three sons and Fakers son, Kaito, were gathering numbers for them. But soon the Astral emissary started to get involved, together with his human companion, Yuma Tsukumo. The World Duel Carnival was organized and revealed more number holders and both sides collected more of them. But Nashs plan failed when both Vetrix and Faker lost to Yuma and Astral who worked together with Kaito Tenjo. What was angering Nash the most, was the fact that Yuma and Astral had unlocked the Zexal power, which allowed the two to fuse and gain extraordinary powers. Mizael wasn’t very pleased as well, when he found out that Kaito used Galaxy Eyes just like him. Nash had to come up with a new plan. 

“If this keeps up then Yuma and Astral will gather more numbers than us,” Durbe was standing next to the throne Nash was seated on. Merag was standing on the other side and Alito, Girag and Mizeal were standing on top of the long staircase in front of them. Vector was lying at the bottom of the stairs looking up to them. 

“I know. And that they managed to form Zexal is a problem as well. We need to do something against that,” Nash replied. 

“Zexal is formed by the bond these two have. What if we manage to damage their bond?” Merag asked. 

“That might work,” Durbe answered and thought about that, “If we infiltrate the school and Yuma’s circle of friends, we can sabotage them” 

“What about the numbers? We can’t gather them when we hang around that human and the Astral being,” Mizael crossed his arms in annoyance. 

“We won’t all go. I need Durbe here to finish the Sphere Cubes. Merag, I want you to assist him,” Nash looked at the two while speaking, “For now Girag and Alito will go to the human world. Girag, you will target humans and make them our soldiers. Let them fight Yuma Tsukumo and give him a taste of what we have in store for him, but don’t get caught. Alito, you will infiltrate the school and get close to Yuma. Make him believe you are his friend. Gain his trust,” the two nodded. “Mizael, get ready to tame Tachyon. I want to send you as well when the Sphere Cubes are ready. And don’t worry, you will get your chance to fight Kaito,” he said before Mizael could complain. Nash knew very well how the blond thought about the other Galaxy Eyes user. 

“I gain Yumas trust, and then?” Alito asked and sat down on one of the crystals that they sometimes sat on. 

“We will lure them to Sargasso with this,” Nash held up Number 66: Master Key Beetle. 

“You’re willing to let them have a number?” Mizael demanded to know. 

“Master Key Beetle is the only number that can activate the Different Dimension Aircraft that is hidden inside the Emperor’s Key. I will set the coordinates to Sargasso into this card so they will be led to it. And there we trap them and use Sargasso to beat them in a duel” 

“I won’t use lighthouse like a coward,” Mizael sneered. 

“I know,” Nash answered calmly. “I’m confident that you won’t lose, no matter the conditions” 

“But how are we supposed to break Yuma and Astral’s bond?” Girag spoke up. 

“Just leave that to me! I can do this!” Alito responded with confidence and banged his fists together. Nash nodded. A growl from downstairs made them turn to Vector, who wasn’t looking all too happy. 

“Don’t give me that attitude. We can’t really have a dragon running around in the human world, now can we. Instead, you will lead the first wave of attack at Sargasso,” Nash reassured them. This seemed to please Vector and they turned they head away with a yawn and fell asleep. 

“Alito, Girag, keep in contact. Now go,” Nash turned back to the two, they nodded and left for earth. Merag followed Durbe into his studies so they could work on the Sphere Cubes, while Mizael left to go to Tachyon, which left Nash alone with the sleeping dragon. Nash just hoped that this time everything would be going according to plan. 

Things went rather smoothly for Girag and Alito. Even if all the humans that Girag brainwashed were defeated by Yuma and Astral, Alito managed to get closer to Yuma who didn’t suspect a thing. Even if Nash wasn’t all that pleased by how Alito started it. Because he went and fell head over heels in love with the girl that was always around Yuma, Kotori Mizuki. And all of Alito’s flirting attempts where disturbed by Yuma, so the Barian challenged him to a duel and thankfully didn’t use any numbers. Yuma won the duel and Alito fell a little bit in love with him as well, but that’s a secret Alito will take to his grave. At the end of the day the two Barians met up in their not so secret hideout, the old gym of the school. There the two contacted Nash to inform him about the day and Alito ended up daydreaming about Kotori to Nash, who in turn just gave him a stern warning “Just don’t get distracted by her. Or I WILL feed you to Vector,” followed by a cruel off-screen chuckle from the dragon. 

Several days later, Durbe finished the first three Sphere Cubes. By Nashs order, Mizael left for earth with the three cube and was to give two to Girag and Alito. The blond then went to find Yuma and challenged him to a duel with the numbers on stake. He used his Sphere Cube and countered Yumas Number 39: Utopia using his number, Number 107: Galaxy Eyes Tachyon Dragon. Yuma was knocked unconscious by the dragon's attack and Astral wasn’t looking that well either, when Kaito showed up to take over the duel. Mizael gladly let him do that and Kaito managed to XYZ summon his Neo Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon which was able to destroy Mizaels Tachyon Dragon. So, the Barian answered by summoning his Neo Galaxy Eyes. However, the duel came to an abrupt end when Neo Galaxy Eyes Tachyon Dragons sheer power was too much for the Sphere Cube to handle and it started to collapse. Mizael left, swearing Kaito that they will meet again and that he will be the one to wield both Galaxy Eyes. Yuma had to be hospitalized for a few days because of that. But that gave Nash enough time to let Girag and Alito know about the next step of their plan. 

“So, you want me to challenge both Alito and Yuma and lose to them on purpose?” Girag questioned. 

“Precisely. Of course, Alito is to make sure that you don’t get injured to badly but we have to give Yuma Rank-Up-Magic Limited Barians Force without Astral knowing. And the best way to do this is by using a Sphere Cube. Yuma now knows that Astral can get seriously hurt inside of them and therefore will make sure that Astral won’t be with him inside of one,” Nash answered. 

“And what do I tell Yuma, when he asks why I have a Barian card?” Alito asked. 

“A simple lie. You already gained Yuma’s trust, so he is most likely to believe you,” Nash replied and Alito thought for a bit. 

“How about a rebellion?” Alito suggested, “Like, I’m from a group of Barians that is against us emperors and wants to help Astral and Yuma to win?” At first Nash stared at him a bit confused but then agreed “Could work. Just make it believable.” 

A few days after Yuma was released from the hospital, Girag and Alito began with the set-up plan. Girag passed Yuma and Alito from their way back home from school and lured them to a remote location, that Kotori was with the two was unplanned but it also assured the two Barians that Yuma would give her the key to keep Astral safe. 

“Your numbers are mine, Yuma Tsukumo!” with that battle cry Girag activated his Sphere Cube and revealed his true form. While Yuma managed to summon Utopia on his first turn, Alito had to play his B game this time and only summoned one monster at a time. Girag called forth his Number 106: Giant Hand on his second turn and used its effect to negate Utopias effects, as well as destroy it when it tried to attack. Girag inflicted a lot of damage to both Yuma and Alito and dropped their life points below 1000. Meanwhile Astral was being several injured by the Sphere Cube and Yuma, wanting to keep him safe, tossed the key out of the Sphere to Kotori so she could keep it safe, which made Astral return into the key to recover. Girag activated his Erosion Hand Forest and the Field Spell kept Kotori from being able to look inside the Sphere Cube. On his next turn, Alito drew Limited Barians Force and gave Girag a small signal. He and Yuma then managed to summon Utopia back from the graveyard and Alito set the spell on Yuma’s field who then used it to Rank-Up Utopia into Chaos Number 39: Utopia Ray V. Using its effect and a direct attack, Girag was defeated and fled through an Overlay Network back to Barian World and debriefed Nash on the duel. 

“Alito, are you okay? What was that card? Was that a Barian card?” Yuma worried as he helped Alito stand up. 

“I’ll explain later. But until then, promise me not to tell Astral. Please?” he whispered back so Kotori wouldn’t hear him. Yuma promised. Later that evening, Astral was still recovering inside the key and Yuma left it in his room, while he and Alito were talking on the roof. 

“So, that card,” Yuma began. 

“I admit it, it is a Barian card. But I can explain! You see, there are more Barians than just the emperors and some of us don’t agree with them and what they do. So, we formed a rebellion to oppose them. And when we found out that they operate here on earth our higher ups send me to aid you and Astral. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier but my boss told me to keep it a secret!” Alito held his hands together in an apologizing manner. Yuma smiled. 

“Alright. I trust you, Alito. We really can use the help.” 

“Thank you, Yuma! But Astral can’t know about this. It would endanger my mission and him. Pleeeeaaasse promise me not to tell him,” he begged. Yuma hesitated for a moment, it didn’t really sat right with him to keep such a secret from Astral, but in the end, he agreed not to tell. 

Yuma kept his promise and never told Astral about the Barian card he got from Alito. A few days later during school, Yuma was very worried about the fact that Astral hasn’t left the key since the duel against Girag and took it to the infirmary where he was suddenly sucked into it. He and Astral returned after some time and told Alito and Kotori what had happened inside the key and that it was Astrals mission to obtain a card called “Numeron Code”. Alito immediately went and told Nash about it that night, who was obviously very furious about it. 

A few days later the Heartland Academy Fun Fair was held and Yuma and his friend hosted a Monster Café, with Yuma dressed as his Temtempo the Percussion Djinn and Alito dressing up as Battling Boxer Cheat Commissioner. When they heard about the Couples Duel Tournament that was held at the Fun Fair, a girl called Anna, who Alito had never seen before, dragged Yuma away to participate with. Something about the Pro duel team that was attending. Alito let Nash know about this, who in turn send Girag back to brainwash one of the Pros, Girag choose the women. During the duel, when the woman performed a Chaos XYZ, Yuma drew Limited Barians Force. When Astral asked him where he got the card from, Yuma lied to him and told him he got it after defeating Girag. The night after the Fair, Alito retuned to Barian World on Nashs command. 

“It’s time we proceed with the plan. The coordinates are set into Master Key Beetle and we prepared Sargasso as well,” Nash explained. 

“I still can’t believe Yuma bought your stupid rebellion lie,” Mizael scoffed towards Alito. 

“Hey, it worked. What more do you want?” Alito countered. 

“Alito is right. What matters is that it worked,” Nash interrupted both. Then he handed Alito a set of cards, “Gives these to Yuma and make sure he keeps them in his deck. It may be a dirty trick but we can’t afford to lose,” Alito nodded and took the cards, then he left again after Nash explained the rest of the plan to them. 

The next day Nash and Alito staged a duel and the latter send an emergency message to Yuma who arrived without Astral, Nash retreaded shortly afterwards. 

“Who was that?” Yuma asked. 

“Nash. He's the leader of the emperors and the most dangerous out of them. I’m lucky he ran away after you showed up, otherwise I would have been a goner,” Alito looked at Yuma worryingly and handed him the cards he got from Nash the day before. “Use these. They are special cards to support your Utopia. They will be useful if you have to face one of the emperors again,” Yuma took the cards and once more had to promise not to tell Astral, “I know you don’t like keeping secrets from Astral, but it’s very important that he doesn’t know. For everyone's safety,” Yuma trusted him. The Sargasso plan was executed the next day. While walking home from school, Nash showed up in front of them, hiding most of his appearance behind his cloak, and challenged Yuma to a duel. Nash got the lead when he stole Yumas Limited Barians Force and used Master Key Beetle to destroy Utopia. Yet Yuma was able to win by drawing one of the cards he got from Alito, V Salamander, and summoned Utopia Ray V. After his defeat, Nash went to grab Yuma but Alito sprung in the way and got abducted instead. Nash then vanished with the captured Alito, leaving Number 66: Master Key Beetle behind. 

The other Barians were waiting for Nash and Alito at Sargasso. When the two showed up, they started to prepare for the duels. Nash would be facing Yuma again and Mizael would be facing Kaito, who would accompany them without a doubt. Alito talked Girag into hitting him so he would look a bit beaten up when Yuma and the rest arrived. Durbe was monitoring the gateway to Sargasso to signal the others when the aircraft would show up. Meanwhile Merag was doing her best to keep Vector calm who was restlessly moving around. They just really wanted to attack the aircraft. After some time, Durbe gave the signal that the aircraft was near the black hole that would transport it to Sargasso. With that, Nash send Vector off together with some other monsters that were residing near Sargasso and they attacked the aircraft. 

Yuma and his friends only got a short warning from the aircraft’s radar before the first attack hit them. A fiery breath from Vector hit the aircraft at full force right at the front. Yuma and Kaito ran out onto the deck and summoned Utopia and Photon Dragon to fight off the attackers. All the lower monsters didn’t resist at all and where easily defeated but Vector, thanks to the intense training they got, avoided all of the attacks from Utopia and Photon Dragon and kept aiming for the ship itself, heating up the steal with their fire and scratching and demolishing it with their tail and talons. When the gateway to Sargasso appeared and the black hole started to suck the aircraft in, Vector left through a network portal that opened behind them. Yuma’s friends were able to hit the brakes on the ship before it could crash against one of the wrecks that made up Sargasso. Yuma and Kaito left the aircraft to face the Barians, Yuma’s friends stayed behind in the ship. Durbe, Merag and Girag were standing on one of the other ship wrecks to overlook the one where Nash and Mizael were standing on, Vector was standing behind the three, observing. Alito was lying on the ground in front of Nash, looking a bit beaten up and seemingly unconscious. Yuma screamed his name but got no response from the brunette. 

“He’s out of commission. But I make you a deal. You can have him back in exchange for the numbers,” Nash said to Yuma. 

“Screw you! I beat you before and I’ll do it again!” Yuma just screamed back angrily. 

“Oh, did you? Or did I just let you win so you could obtain Master Key Beetle, to activate the aircraft and walk right into our trap,” the Barian mocked him a bit. “Because that’s exactly what happened. But I can see that words have no meaning to you. A duel is unavoidably. And as always, your numbers are at stake.” With that Nash and Yuma both activated their duel disks, Mizael and Kaito as well. Both Nash and Mizael had Sargasso Lighthouse in their starting hand and while Nash used its effect by having it send to his graveyard and staying there, Mizaels pride refused to use it and kept it in his hand the entire time. Both Galaxy Users called out their dragons pretty early into the duel and Yuma as well called Utopia rather quickly. Nash had a strategy in mind, one Yuma easily fell into with his reckless and anger fueled dueling. He also ignored any of Astrals advices and warnings, too focused on wanting to rescue his friend. So, he fell right into the trap when he called out Utopia Ray V and used one of the V cards. Nash activated the trap Vain Betrayer and destroyed Yuma’s deck, leaving him with only three cards. The pure shock and disbelief were a sight to see. 

“While I usually don’t approve of such dirty tricks, it is amusing to see how easily you fell for this trap. Trusting a Barian and putting Barian cards in your deck,” Nash commented. 

“Trusting a Barian? Yuma, what does he mean?” Astral questioned, but Yuma didn’t answer right away. 

“Exactly what I said. Your friend Yuma trusted a Barian. Your enemy. And didn’t tell you a single word,” Nash replied instead. 

“No! It’s not like-,” Yuma tried to defend himself but Nash interrupted him. “You can stand up now. The ground must be getting very uncomfortable,” With that, Alito jumped up to his feet like nothing happened. 

“Very uncomfortable. And it was soooooo hard to play unconscious! I really wanted to see the duel,” he complained. 

“A-Alito?” Yuma stammered, staring at Alito in disbelief, “What’s going on?” 

“Uh, yeah I lied. There is no rebellion. I would say that I’m sorry, but not really,” Alito flashed him a grin and then took his true Barian form, “I’m an emperor.” 

Yuma couldn’t answer, too much in denial of the truth. Alito just gave Nash a thumbs up and then went to the others, giving Girag a high five and Vector a small pat on the snout. 

“Yuma! Tell me what's going on!” Astral demanded but Yuma couldn’t bring out a single word. 

“It’s not that hard to see, Astral,” Nash replied again. “He knew that Alito is a Barian and yet still trusted him more than you and kept it a secret from you.” 

“Astral, I’m sorry,” Yuma turned to Astral, tears in his eyes. “I really thought I could trust him... He made it sound so believable... I’m really, really sorry...” Yuma fell to his knees, crying his eyes out. 

“It’s okay, Yuma. We are in this together,” Astral smiled softly and held out his hand to Yuma who took it, and together they formed Zexal. Or at least attempted to do so. Astral was questioning his bond to Yuma, which led darkness into his heart. So, when the light of Zexal vanished, the Zexal fusion was standing there, but something was... different. The hair was black, the skin darker and instead of a white bodysuit it was now a darker gray one. With a malefic grin on their face the Dark Zexal kept dueling but in a self-destructive way by keeping attacking Nash’s monster and therefore activating the effect chain over and over again and reduced their own life points with that. Nash let it happen, it was in his favor after all. But then something unexpected happened. Yuma and Astral broke the Zexal off, with Yuma somehow managed to stay conscious. Kaito yelled at him to call off Utopia Ray Vs attack, which Yuma did by ending his turn. He managed to protect himself from Nash’s attack by sending Ray V to the graveyard and calling back Utopia. On his next turn, Yuma drew his last card, Limited Barian’s Force, but then collapsed next to Astral. Astral, despite being still hurt by Yuma’s actions, told him that he wants to give him a second chance, to renew their bond. With that reconnection their formed a new Zexal and managed to rewrite Limited Barian’s Force into Rank-Up Magic Numeron Force. With that they Ranked-Up Utopia into Number C39: Utopia Ray Victory and won the duel. The force of Zexal IIs appearance causes Sargasso to crumble and the Barian’s had to retread. 

Back in Barian World, Nash started to lash out and destroyed almost half the palace in his rage. 

“If this keeps up... Barian World will be done for,” Durbe stated, the mood between the emperors was already down. 

“So... is this the end? We lost?” Alito asked looking down to his feet defeated. 

“No!” Nash yelled angered, “This cannot be the end!” 

“But what are we supposed to do? They formed an even stronger Zexal and possess more Numbers than us. … Brother, I think we have to accept it. We lost,” beaten, Merag sat down on the stairs, face in her hands. 

“I refuse. There is no way we are giving up this easily!” Mizael protested, but Nash just shook his head. 

“I’m afraid this is the end,” Nash sighed in defeat, “I... I will try to think about something. Give me time till tomorrow. I’ll see you then,” then left through a network, leaving the rest to themselves. The others left as well, leaving Vector alone in the castle who decided to take a nap instead. 

Durbe was moving through a rift between the worlds, thinking about a plan, when suddenly the Different Dimension Aircraft appeared right in front of him and he crashed right into it. Both the ship and he were thrown out of the rift and Durbe found himself in a jungle on earth. Unfortunately, his Barian Crystal appeared to have broken, leaving him unable to use his powers. And then on top of it a bear showed up in front of him. And to his most surprise, Yuma suddenly jumped in the way and the bear left, probably scared off by Astral rather than Yuma. 

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Yuma turned around to him and Durbe expected him to immediately recognize him. But he didn’t and neither did Astral. 

“I’m fine. Thank you,” he replied and let Yuma help him stand up. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I’m on vacation. I was out hiking and I guess I must have gotten lost,” Durbe lied and both Yuma and Astral seemed to believe him. Any further conversation was interrupted by a scream not far away and Yuma immediately ran there, Durbe decided to follow them. They found an old ruin and entered. There they meet Kotori, Yuma’s friend who joined him on the journey. When asked for his name, Durbe lied and called himself “Ray.” They proceed further into the temple when they accidentally triggered a trap and a wall came rushing down. Durbe jumped into action and pushed Kotori out of the way, but that separated the two from Yuma and Astral. 

“Kotori! Ray! Are you two alright?” he yelled through the wall. 

“We’re okay,” Kotori replied who luckily was unhurt. Then a new corridor opened before them and they decided to proceed. Yuma and Astral were led into a big room with a statue of a Pegasus, while Durbe and Kotori found a mural painting depicting a sort of legend. Of a knight with a white Pegasus. When three of his fellow soldiers planed a coup against their king, the knight attempted to reason with them and was unwilling to fight them. Meanwhile a guardian spirit had challenged Yuma and Astral to a duel and Durbe and Kotori were able to watch through a sort of monitor. The guardian introduced himself as Mach, and for some reason the name felt familiar to Durbe. He and Kotori tried to read the mural, hoping it would help Yuma win, but the mural ended abruptly before they could read how the legend ended. And the further the duel progressed the more the room they were in started to collapse. When the floor started to break apart, Durbe caught Kotori and pulled her back up. Yuma asked them if there really wasn’t more to the legend that could help them. Kotori denied it but Durbe had the feeling he knew how the legend ends and told Yuma to keep protecting Utopia, as both the knight and the Pegasus refused to give up on each other and stayed together until the end, which in the end was the right decision as it broke Mach's combo and Yuma was able to defeat Number 44: Sky Pegasus. Before Mach disappeared, he looked at Durbe through the monitor with a nostalgic smile. The monitor disappeared and Kotori and Durbe slowly left the room. 

“How did you know how the legend ended?” she asked. 

“I’m not sure. Just a feeling, I guess,” he answered truthfully. “But what are you two doing here?” 

“Oh, we’re looking for these special number cards,” she answered, “I’m not really sure what exactly is so special about them but they seem pretty important. Their called Mythyrian Numbers or something like that” Durbe just nodded when his Barian Crystal started glowing and repaired itself. Kotori looked at him questionable. 

“Thank you, for the information,” Durbe just said and opened a Network behind himself and left. 

Back in Barian World Durbe literally almost jumped out of the portal into the throne room, “Everyone! I have important news!” he screamed out of the top of his lungs and shortly afterwards the others arrived and he told them about the Mythyrian Numbers. 

“So, we have a new mission. Gather the remaining Mythyrian Numbers before Astral does. Can you find a way to locate them?” Merag asked Durbe. 

“Probably. The ruin gave off a special energy reading. If the other places have the same readings, I may be able to locate them,” Durbe answered. 

“Do that. If these numbers can give us an advantage, then we need them,” Nash said, “But it feels strange. Mythyiran Numbers, the name sounds familiar...” 

“I had this strange feeling inside the ruins. The legend the mural was about. I knew it from somewhere” 

“That’s impossible. We have never been to earth before,” Mizael scoffed. 

“I know. And that’s bothering me,” Durbe crossed his arms, “But it doesn’t matter. I’ll start with the scanner now,” then he left to start working. Just a few hours later Durbe was finished and showed the results to the others. 

“These locations give up the same energy reading as the one I had been in,” he showed them a map of earth where six locations where marked, “I’m very certain we will find numbers there,” Nash nodded. “Then we will go there immediately. We have to get the numbers before them,” The others agreed and they decided who would go to which ruin. Alito choose the one that was located in Italy, Nash and Merag the one here two numbers were located, Mizael took the one in China and Girag the one in Japan. 

“I will also take the remaining one,” Mizael said and the rest agreed. Then they all left to find the ruins. 

Alito was the first to arrive at his location, a city called Spartan City in Italy. Not knowing the exact location of the ruin, he went into the next best bar and asked the bartender, who told him about the old submerged colosseum ruin just outside the city. As well as the legend of said colosseum. It said that the greatest warrior to ever exist fought in the colosseum, using only his bare hands and winning every match. He was also said to be best friends with the prince of the land and both faced off against each other many times. But during their final fight, the people close to the prince falsely accused the warrior and despite his please for innocence and the prince himself defending his friend, the warrior was executed. Later that night, Alito found the ruin and threw a few copies of Blast with Chain into the lake surrounding the ruin, which caused an explosion that drained the water. As he went inside and explored the colosseum everything felt familiar to him. Just like Durbe said about the ruin he had been to, but this was the first time Alito had been in this place. He reached the arena where a big statue of a fist was standing, he could see the number on top of it. The guardian of the number appeared, a gladiator of the size of the statue. Not having time for a duel, Alito jumped in to simply punch the guardian, who in turn blocked with a punch of its own. 

“I don’t have time for you!” he yelled and the guardian scattered, with a sort of look of recognition on its face. The Barian grabbed a hold of Number 54: Lion Heart just as another man entered the arena. Alito recognized him as the man who had won the tournament earlier which he saw on the big TV screens in the city. Alito also sensed a great risk of using Lion Heart in a duel, when Yuma, out of all people, showed up with a woman in tow. Yuma challenged him to a duel with the Mythyrian Number of this ruin on stake. Alito agreed but made it a Tag Duel instead. He brainwashed the man, Nistro, with Barians Force and gave him Lion Heart. The woman, Dextra, joined Yuma, now with her friend being at stake as well. During the duel, Nistro kept using the kamikaze-like effect of Lion Heart. Dextra was the first to be defeated and Yuma defeated Alito by inflicting a total of 6700 damage to him. As he was defeated, pictures rushed through Alitos head. Of a gladiator fighting in these very ruins, winning every fight and then getting his head slashed off as his death sentence. Alito fell to his knees screaming in agony and confusion, and when Yuma came running towards him, he left through a network, leaving Number 54 behind. Back in the palace the only others present were Durbe and Vector. Disturbed and deeply terrified by what he saw, he curled up into a ball and started sobbing uncontrollably. 

Mizael reached the first ruin but was too late as Kaito was already dueling the guardian, an older man. The ruin itself was not a ruin at all. It was a grand and lavish Chinese temple on top of a mountain. During the duel, the man told Kaito the legend the number holds. About a dragon tamer and his noble dragon, who protected the land. When a disaster struck, a wandering shaman made the people believe that it was the dragon that caused the disaster. While the dragon was tortured by the people, the dragon tamer kept protecting him, even going so far to offer his own life in exchange for the dragons. But both died in an ambush by an opposite force, who the shaman worked for. After Kaito won the duel, he asked the guardian if the dragon tamer was Mizael, which the guardian confirmed. Angered by this, Mizael attacked the guardian, claiming that he was not some lowly human and challenged Kaito to a duel once more, but when the force of both Neo Galaxy Eyes began to destroy the temple, Mizael had no other choice but retread and swore Kaito that their next duel will be the last. Back in Barian World he found Alito curled up under one of Vectors wings, crying his eyes out while Durbe tried to comfort him. Alito told him what happened at the ruin, but Mizael was never the best at comforting others. 

Girag had a bit of trouble finding the number card, since the statue the card was sealed in, was excavated near the Duel Sanctuary in the woods near Heartland City. When he examined the statue, which strangely looked like him, the spirit of a tanuki sprung out of it and entered Girags body, ultimately swapping their bodies and trapping Girag in the statue. When Yuma showed up, Girag could convince him to stop his body and the spirit inside of it. The tanuki used Girags body during the duel and even swapped with Yuma during his first turn and almost ruining the duel for him. But Yuma was able to win with the face down he had placed before the body swap. After the duel, Girag remembered the tanuki, Ponta. They were friends and Ponta aided him in many battles but when Girag learned that the vassals were not happy with him sharing spoils of his victories with the commoners, Girag parted ways with Ponta, knowing he would not win the next battle. But Ponta didn’t knew that and passed away in grief, thinking he was betrayed. Girag apologized to his friend. He returned to Barian World without the number but with his friend. There Girag found Alito in a breakdown and Mizael not knowing what to do. Seeing that Girag had returned, Mizael left Alito in his and Durbes care and left for the next ruin. 

Meanwhile Nash and Merag had arrived at the ruin, an underwater labyrinth surrounded by a barrier that kept the water away. When they stepped through the entrance the walls shifted and formed a clear path towards the platform in the middle. Cautious the two walked up to the platform and found both numbers at the top. Number 73: Abyss Splash and Number 94: Crystalzero. The guardian appeared in form of Number 73 itself. But instead of challenging either of them to a duel, the guardian greeted them like old friends. 

“It’s good to see you again, your majesties,” Abyss spoke. 

“You know us? How?” Nash asked. 

“All of us guardians know the holders of their number” 

“Durbe said something similar after he returned from the ruin. He knew the legend written there, despite never been there prior to that. And he said the guardian seemed to know him,” Merag looked at Nash and then at Abyss. 

“The guardian you speak of is Mach, Number 44: Sky Pegasus” 

“So, is it true? We were human before?” Nash wanted to know, Abyss nodded and showed them their past. Nash was once the monarch of this lands, the United Lands of the Poseidon Ocean, and Merag the high priestess. They even befriended Durbe, who was a knight from another kingdom with a noble Pegasus steer by his side. But they were attacked by a giant fleet who took control of one of their ocean Gods via a blood sacrifice and Merag gave her own life to call forth a second God to purified the first. Nash followed the attackers and both armies lost all of their soldiers. During that, Nash met a young girl, Iris, who looked like Merag, but she too lost her life that day. Durbe had to return to his own kingdom and died. Nash followed them to Barian World shortly after. 

“All seven of you were once human. But when tragedy struck, Don Thousand took hold of your souls and made you his Barian Emperors” 

“Seven? But Vector is a dragon. They were human as well?” both Nash and Merag were confused, but to be fair, they did find them many years after they had arrived in Barian World. 

“They were, but I don’t know what had happened. Only their guardian has the answer. But we’re running out of time. I can sense the Astral emissary coming closer. You have a great battle ahead of you. Be careful,” with that, Abyss returned into his card and the two siblings went back to Barian with both numbers before Yuma and Astral arrived at the ruin. 

Mizael couldn’t find the right ruin right away. The location Durbe had marked was one of an old castle with most of the walls already broken down to the foundation and taken back by nature, but no sign of a number. It wasn’t until Tachyon Dragon reacted to something within the mountain next to the ruin. His dragon led him up the mountain what could have been a path many, many years ago. When he reached the end, he blasted the rocks with an energy ball and revealed an entrance. The hallway was in a more or less good condition but soon turned into a labyrinth. Mizael let Tachyon guide him as his dragon seemed to know the way. He entered a big hall, with light barely shining through the cracks in the ceiling. There were six statues of dragons, all of them covered in moss and broken apart. Curious, Mizael stepped closer, he had the feeling two of statues looked familiar when the guardian spirit of the ruin showed up. It was a white lion clad in amour and a horn on its forehead. 

“Who are you and what do you want?” the lion demanded to know. 

“I’m Mizael, one of the seven Barian emperors and I’m here for the number this ruin holds” 

“A number? What are you talking about?” 

“I don’t have time for such games. One of the Mytherian Numbers is hidden in this temple and I will take it,” Mizael grew impatient and summoned his duel disk. But he lion just calmly sat down. 

“Do you know in what ruin you are? Who this place once belonged to?” he asked and gestured up to the statues. Mizael followed his gaze. 

“A temple to worship these dragons, I would say. But I don’t know them,” he answered. 

“These are statues of the Signer Dragons, servants of the Crimson Dragon,” the lion replied and then let out a sad sigh, “But they’re long gone,” he turned back to Mizael, “I really don’t know this “number” you speak of. You are the first to step into this ruin since the kingdom fell” 

Mizael thought for a second “There is a legend to this place, right? Tell me” 

“Not much of a legend but more of a tragedy. The last generation of signers, that ruled here, two of them had a child who was supposed to take one of the thrones. But their fathers only argued about it, so they asked the dragons to take both thrones. And back then, the dragons and Signers were connected by souls. But two dragon souls were too much for the poor child and they started to turn into one themselves. They were killed by assassins and after that, this kingdom fell and the dragons never connected to their Signers in this way ever again” 

“You said the dragons are long gone. What happened?” 

“They lost. The enemy was too powerful and broke the Signers apart and not even the Crimson Dragon could stop it. Don’t get me wrong, the dragons are still alive. But in a place no one can get to,” saddened, the lion looked at the ground before standing up again and looked at the space between two statues, “There is a box there. It never opened and I don’t even know what is inside. Maybe that’s what you’re looking for,” Mizael let his disk disappear and went over to the two statues and just like the lion said, there was a small casket hidden between them. Mizael had to free it from under all the moss and vines that were covering it and when he took it in his hands, the casket snapped open, revealing Number 65: Djinn Buster. He took it out and put the basket back where he found it. 

“Found what you were looking for?” the lion asked and Mizael nodded. 

“Say, do you remember the name of the child?” Mizael turned to look at the guardian, who only shook his head, “I see. Well, I have what I came for,” He pocketed Number 65 and opened a network to leave, “Will you stay here, now that I took the number?” 

“I tend to come and go. I’m not bound to this place, but it’s the only place in the human world that holds memories of them.” With that, Mizael left the ruin and returned to Barian and meet up with the others again. 

“So, we only got three of the Mythyrian Numbers,” Nash concluded after Mizael showed him Number 65. 

“I’m sorry,” Alito apologized and Girag gave him a soft pat on the shoulder, while Ponta was sitting on the larger ones shoulder. 

“It’s alright, Alito,” Nash assured him, “We don’t blame you” 

“So, it’s true? We all were human once?” Durbe asked, “Even Vector?” 

“That’s what Abyss said. Mizael, did you find something in the last ruin?” 

“If what the guardian said is true, then yes. Though, I don’t believe he actually was a guardian. He didn’t even knew about the number,” the blond replied. 

“Well, even if it is the truth, it doesn’t change our mission,” Nash looked at the others, “We still have a chance to take the others numbers and obtain the Numeron Code before Astral can” The ground started to shake and they all lost their footing and fell. They all frantically looked around to find the cause. 

“Guys! Look there!” Alito screamed and pointed out of the throne room. And there, right at the horizon, they could see Heartland City. 

“Heartland City? But how?” Nash questioned. 

“They fused,” Durbe stammered, “Earth and Barian World have fused” 

“But that’s impossible!” Mizael exclaimed. 

“The only one capable of doing such a thing! … Is Don Thousand,” Nash stared at the city in shock, “Someone freed him. Someone freed Don Thousand!” he quickly turned around to the others. “We’re going to earth. Now!” They arrived at the pier in Heartland, Yuma and his friends were there as well. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” one of the Arclight, the eldest of them, yelled at them, “Why did you fuse both worlds?” But the Barians didn’t reply, they just looked around. Barian Crystals shoot out of the ground everywhere and weird flower like towers were growing. Then, a beam of light shot out of the Emperors Key and Nash’s Barian Emblem and both beams collided, cause a huge blinding light. When the light was gone, two strange men showed up and caused huge smoke bomb and then Yuma and his friends were gone. 

“Find them. We can’t let them escape, but be careful. Don Thousand is somewhere here and we don’t know who freed him,” The rest nodded and left. 

Alito found himself on a baseball field facing Nistro, the man from the ruin. Girag was facing the two new man, Roku and Kaze, who had lived in the Sanctuary where he found Ponta. Durbe came to a wind farm where he found Dextra and recognized her as the women who dueled Vetrix during the World Duel Carnival. Mizael, together with Vector who had followed him, were confronted by two of Yuma’s friends, Anna from the school fair and Nelson the actor and former holder of a number. Merag was at the school building and faced another of Yuma’s friends. Nash found the car that Yuma and his friends were escaping in but his path got blocked by Quattro, the middle child of the Arclight's. Every one of the emperors were caught in a duel but quickly ended it when they all performed a Chaos Draw and played Rank-Up-magic: The Seventh One and ranked up their numbers into a chaos number. Their opponents were defeated and their souls went over to Barian World. They regrouped and gave chase after the remaining number holders – Yuma, Astral, Kaito, Trey and Quinton Arclight. Mizael found the two Arclights and dueled them, as they were blocking his path and Quinton told him, that he had taught Kaito how to duel which intrigued him. When Quinton summoned his Dyson Sphere, Durbe and Merag showed up being alerted of the duel by the sheer size of the monster, but Mizael told them not to interfere and go away. However, the two brothers created a Sphere Field which kept Merag and Durbe from leaving. The two listened to Mizael and didn’t interfere with the duel. Later during the duel, Mizael was forced to play defensive, as his Tachyon Dragon was stolen end equipped to Treys Chronomaly Chaos Atlandis. But Mizael was able to survive their combo and even get his dragon back and summon Neo Tachyon, ultimately winning the duel. Before dealing the finishing blow, Quinton informed him and Yuma, who was currently on the Different Dimension Aircraft, that Kaito was on his way to the moon. He had found a tablet detailing a legend regarding the "Galaxy-Eyes" dragons. Believing them connected to the Numeron Code, Kaito was on his way to the moon to confirm his theory and to duel Mizael there. The Barian let the two brothers say their farewell to Yuma before defeating them and sending their souls to Barian World. He then left for the moon to his final duel with Kaito. 

Meanwhile Yuma and his friend were on their way to Barian World using the aircraft when they were knocked out of the air by Comet Crestus, Alitos Chaos Number. They landed back at the pier in Heartland and Alito forced Yuma to a duel by trapping Kotori in thorny vines. Yuma and Astral were quick to realize that something was very wrong with Alito. Yuma called Utopia on his first turn but Alito almost won by using Seventh One and Comet Crestus, Yuma only able to survive by using Gagaga Garnder. Then Yuma tried to reason with Alito by summoning Heroic Champion – Excalibur but failed and Alito called Rhapsody in Berserk to aid his Comet Crestus. Yuma finally called out Lion Heart, which caused Alito to struggle and release Kotori from her prison. Lion Heart and Comet Crestus clashed, which released Alito’s true memories and lifting the curse of his Over-Hundred-Number from him. He remembered his time as a gladiator and how all the children admired him and how he fought to make them smile. Of how close he was to the prince and that it was Don Thousand who manipulated the council to have him killed. Defeated, Alito apologized to Kotori and told Yuma and Astral that Don Thousand was freed and despite them still being enemies, he agrees to fight Don Thousand together with them. 

Girag found Nash and told him that Yuma and his friends were on their way to Barian World and that they too should hurry back there. Nash agreed and the two of them went back. But inside the network Girag was grabbed by dark tendrils and when Nash went to help his comrade, he was grabbed instead and Girag telling him, that Nash could not duel Yuma, as it was in the name of Don Thousand. Shocked, Nash struggled to get free but was sucked into a void and lost consciousness. Girag then went to stop the aircraft from reaching Barian World, but instead of Yuma dueling him, Alito stepped in the way and dueled his best friend instead, getting Number 64: Ronni Raccoon Sandayu from Yuma and Pontas spirit joined him by his side. Alito just barely survived the attack of Giant Red Hand and Number 58: Burner Visor. But Alito used Last Counter to enable Sandayu to defeat Giant Red Hand, releasing Girags true memoires and lifting the curse from him. This allowed Ponta to see the memories as well and saw that Girag had send him away to protect him, as shortly afterwards a group of Girags own soldiers, who were controlled by Don Thousand, showed up and killed Girag. Yet Alito lost due to Last Counter and told Girag smiling, that it was okay since it was for the sake of his best friend. Alito died and Girag absorbed his soul, crying and swearing revenge, when High Manipulator of Souls appeared and aimed for Yuma. Realizing what is happening, Girag pushed Yuma out of the way and got hit instead, dying as well. As he was fading away, Ponta promised to stay with him and all three souls - Alito, Girag and Ponta – were sucked through the portal C43 had appeared through. 

Before that, Durbe and Merag had arrived in the castle together with Vector. There, they finally found out who had freed Don Thousand. Because before them stood Number 96: Dark Mist, a dark version of Astral which had caused Yuma and Astral quite some trouble in the past. 

“You? Astral defeated you and took your card,” Durbe claimed but Dark Mist just laughed. 

“He had to let me go. But first, let’s take care of that little pest of yours,” with a snap of his finger, dark tendrils shoot out of nowhere and trapped Vector, forcing them to the floor and rendering them useless. 

“Let them go!” Merag demanded and summoned her duel disk, Durbe did so as well. 96 just grinned and called his disk as well, starting the Battle Royal between the three. He also revealed to them that it was really him who had freed Don Thousand, not long after the Sargasso Duel. It was also him who helped Don Thousand fuse Barian World with Earth so that Don Thousand could easily obtain the Numeron Code, which was hidden somewhere on Earth. And when Earth would fully be a part of Barian, Don Thousand could easily use it as he is the deity of this world. Durbe and Merag combined Raganzero and Star Seraph to destroy Number 96 who Dark Mist had summoned. But in response, Dark Mist called Number 43: Manipulator of Souls and equipped his own monster card to it and activated Don Thousand’s Throne. Merag called out her Chaos Number Ragnafinity and Durbe almost won by taking Dark Mist and himself out using Celestial Rage and his Archfiend Seraph but Dark Mist countered that. Durbe then scarified himself using Scared Shield to increase Ragafinities attack, thanking Merag that she and her brother were his friends in both lives, before fading away and being absorbed my Merag. But that wasn’t enough to win. Dark Mist Ranked Manipulator of Souls up into C43: High Manipulator of Souls and defeated Merag, absorbing both her and Durbes soul. Vector was struggling to get free the entire time, helplessly watching the two dying. They trashed around but where not able to get out of the tendrils. Dark Mist just laughed at their demise and used Don Thousands powers to take Masquerade from them, then he left to deal with Girag and Alito. When he was gone, Nash arrived at the castle in rage. When he saw Vector trapped like this, he used his own powers to rip them free. “We’re going to kill that bastard,” he growled and the two then left to pursue Dark Mist. Number 96 had forced Nash to watch the duel, keeping him trapped in a Sphere Field and draining him whenever Dark Mist used Don Thousands Throne. Both found Dark Mist in a different part of Barian World and both immediately attacked him. Nash ordered Vector to stay next to him while he began his duel with Dark Mist. Number 96 immediately handicapped him by playing Contract with Don Thousand and Nash fell into his trap when he attacked with his Silent Honor Dark, letting Dark Mist activate his two trap cards Chaos Rising and Chaos Calling and called out Number C96, Number C102, Number C103 and Number C104. Nash was surprised to see Vectors number and the dragon growled angrily. At that point, Yuma arrived with Astral and Kotori to support Nash, and all three of them were equally surprised to see Dark Mist. Another thing that surprised Nash was, that whenever he took damage either through card effect or one of Dark Mists attacks, Vector would move in front of him to protect him, either by blocking the monster's attacks or whatever the effect damage threw at them. 

“Is that dragon protecting Nash?” Astral asked confused. 

“Vector, what are you doing?” Nash shouted in confusion but Vector just stayed quiet. 

“Is that dragon real? Also, where is the seventh emperor? You always say you’re the seven emperors but so far, I’ve only seen six of you,” Yuma asked Nash. 

“Vector IS our seventh” 

“That’s a whole-ass dragon!” 

“... point taken and now be quiet,” Nash countered and turned his attention back to Dark Mist. Nash survived the assault of the four chaos monsters and then called out Number C65: King Overfiend and destroyed Number C104 Umbral Horror Masquerade, which triggered Vectors true memories. And just like with the other emperors, they all saw a vision of those memories, of a child desperate to make their fathers happy, going so far and asking the dragons for the impossible, of gruesomely turning into one as well, of Don Thousand, who manipulated the people within the walls to kill the poor child. And of a Barian emperor, scared and alone in a cave, slowly morphing into the beast they are now. Once the vision was over, Nash stared at Vector in sorrow, of the pain they had to go through only to meet such a cruel end. With Masquerade being defeated by Number 65, Don Thousands curse was lifted from Vector and the red menacing eye on their forehead, which Nash now realized resembled Don Thousands, sprung apart into a million pieces and a tornado-like wind rose up beneath their feet, which formed into a mix of wind and fire. With a defying roar, much deeper than their usual high-pitched roars, the tornado busted apart by a strong beat of their new wings. Or old wings more precise. Instead of the former skinny and skeleton like body they were now more muscular, with a set of six spike-like legs sprouting from their sides. Their wings lost the chaos energy and was now replaced with actual patagium in a rich dark red which first turned grey and then black at the tips. Their face had an entirely different structure and an entirely new set of horns, together with a rich black mane and a small puffy red “eyebrow” over their left eye. Their tail was still armored but the tip of their tail had shrunken in size, now with four long feathers at the base of the tip. With yet another roar from Vector, the sky turned dark with red lightning shooting through the air. Vector started to glow red as a divine roar echoed through the air. 

Mizael had found Kaito and they started their final duel after Kaito told him about the stone tablet and the legend written on it, which he found at Jinlongs temple, the place of Mizaels Mythyrian Number. During the duel, Kaito destroyed Neon Tachyon with Jinlong, revealing Mizaels true memories and showed both of them how Mizael met Jinglong as a child after his village was burned down, how he became a dragon tamer and was willing to give his life for him, only for the shaman, who in reality was Don Thousand, to let the army in and have them both killed. And that Tachyon Dragon was Don Thousands curse over Mizael. The blond angrily claimed that Tachyon would never betray him like this and brutally assaulted Kaito. But Kaito was able unlock the power of Number 62: Galaxy Eyes Prime Photon Dragon and defeated Mizael. Kaito told him, that he admired Mizael for being the True Dragon Master, for trusting his dragons like that, while he himself simply used his monster to protect his family. The duel unlocked Number 100: Numeron Dragon, just like Kaito predicted, but he and Orbital, who was serving as his space suit, were severely injured. Beaten, Kaito held the number out to Mizael. 

“Take it. And do what you believe is right,” Kaitos strength was wavering, but instead of taking the card, Mizael went and picked Kaito up and held him up by carrying him on his back. 

“Fucking do it yourself! Quinton and Trey didn’t give their life just for you to die on the moon!” Mizael ignored the tears that were dripping down his face and Kaito didn’t commented on it. Despite losing the ability to take his Barian Form and summoning Tachyon, Mizael was still able to open a network back to earth and brought Kaito back. They arrived next to Nash and Yuma, just as the sky turned dark and a divine roar shook them to the core. 

“Kaito! Mizael!” both Nash and Yuma yelled when they saw the two return. Mizael carefully laid Kaito down on the ground and turned to look at the unfamiliar dragon. 

“It’s Vector,” Nash answered before Mizael could ask, “Don Thousands curse was lifted from them.” Yuma, Astral and Kotori were looking after Kaito and managed to open the visor of the spacesuit, shouting Kaitos name in worry. Mizael turned to Nash. 

“Where are the others?” he asked worried. 

“Right here!” Dark Mist laughed and pointed at himself, “They were rather tasty, you know” 

“You monster,” Kotori quietly commented. 

“And tell your stupid reptile to stop whatever it’s doing,” Dark Mist pointed at the red glowing Vector with a scowl. 

“Vector is not a stupid reptile!” Mizael shouted back angrily and looked at Vector again, suddenly remembering the two dragon statues at the ruin. They looked like a mix of the two. 

“I saw their past,” Nash told Mizael and stepped next to him, “Abyss as right, Vector was a human once." 

“So that lion was right,” Nash nodded to that. 

“Would you stop dilly dallying! We have a duel to finish!” Dark Mist screamed at them and Nash turned back to face him. 

“That we do.” It was then that Dark Mist started to glow purple and Don Thousand rose up behind him in his sealed form, looming over all of them. 

“I see you unlocked Number 100. Good work, Mizael,” Don Thousands deep voice rumbled through the place. 

“Fuck you!” the blond spit back. Vector roared once more and then the sky broke open and a red light shoot towards the ground. As soon as it impacted right behind Vector, a red glowing, giant winged Aztec dragon emerged from it with yet another divine roar, looming ever over Don Thousand himself. With its roar, two spherical lights rose out of Vectors chest and vanished into Nashs deck. When Nash wanted to ask what is going on, Kaito also started to glow red, before he sat up with a loud gasp and Orbital coming back to full function. 

“The Crimson Dragon!?” Don Thousand wondered out loud, “You’re supposed to be dead!” As an answer, he only got another roar from the divine beast and Nash stared at his right arm in shock, as a mark appeared on it. It was shaped like a shovel but the lines resembled a face with wings on its sides. His Barian Form broke apart as he too started to glow red and all the cards in his hands were rewritten. 

“What is going on?” Nash asked and stared at Vector and the Crimson Dragon. 

“It broke my control?! How?!” Don Thousand demanded to know, but the Crimson Dragon was not done yet. The five souls Dark Mist had absorbed flew out of his body and they stopped next to Nash and Mizael and all five of them reformed. Ponta now with a real body instead of being a spirit. 

“Nash?” Merag stared at her brother in disbelief and then immediately went to hug him, which he promptly returned. 

“We’re back?” Durbe stared at his own hands in shock and then to Nash. 

“Mizael, do you know what's going on?” Nash asked his comrade who just shook his head. Vector flew in front of his revived friends in a protective manner, the four Barians looking at him questionable and Nash telling them that it was in fact Vector. Yuma was just as confused as them and Astral didn’t had an answer either. 

“Stop interrupting the duel!” Dark Mist screeched and went to attack Nash with the three remaining Chaos Numbers he controlled, but Nash countered with one of the new cards and managed to take out Dark Mists entire field with it. Dark Mist screamed in anger but had no other choice to end his turn. Nash stepped back in front of the others. Kaito meanwhile back on his feet after the Crimson Dragon had healed him. 

“I have no idea what just happened. But you two are going down!” he declared and pointed at Dark Mist and Don Thousand. His deck started to glow and Nash performed a Shining Draw and looked at the card, which displayed a pink dragon. With a call from both dragons, Nash activated a spell from his hand. 

“This allows me to treat two monsters in my graveyard as level 8 monster and use them to XYZ summon!” he shouted and a collective “What?!” came from everyone. But everyone was equally surprised when instead of vanishing into the Overlay Network, the two Overlay Unit lights started to circle around Vector, who moved onto the field in front of Nash, who in turned couldn’t take his eyes of his disk, where a XYZ card appeared that bore Vector’s picture. 

“They’re a monster?” Astral shouted. 

“Just like me!” Ponta exclaimed happily, “Beat their butt, buddy!” 

“I’m not done yet!” Nash snapped back into action and activated a second spell, “I use XYZ Crown to change Vector’s Rank into a level! And since I now control a level 5 or higher monster, I can special summon this guy!” Nash slammed the card down on his disk and a new level 1 shark type monster appeared next to Vector on the field, who now bore a level, “Now, I normal summon Majestic Dragon!” The pink dragon Nash had drawn showed up on the field and the Crimson Dragon roared once more. 

“Nash, what are you doing?” Merag asked. 

“I really have no idea what I’m doing,” Nash replied, rather confused himself and then proceeded, “I tune the level 1 Majestic Dragon to my level 1 Baby Shark and level 8 Blackwinged Red Dragon!” The mark on his arm shone bright and Majestic Dragon flew towards the sky and grew in size until Vector and the other monster fitted right into it. Then the three disappeared in a bright green light between the dark clouds. 

“ _A new light born from a miracle! Shine us the way to victory with your burning flame! Synchro Summon! Be reborn, Majestic Redfeather Dragon!_ ” Nash shouted as loud as he could and the clouds gave way to a bright light where yet another new dragon descended from. It looked like Vector but at the same time not quite. Now with a Wyvern-like body clad in red armor, the black mane turned red and gold, a double set of two layered wings and four long feathers at the tip of their tail. They flew down towards the field where the Crimson Dragon joined them and vanished into their body, creating a red aura around them that looked like the divine beast. Without missing a beat, Nash immediately declared a direct attack and the total of 3900 attack points was enough to take Dark Mist down. Vector, now inhabiting the divine dragon, threw Dark Mist off his feet and slashed right through Don Thousand’s middle, ending the duel with Nash’s victory. Don Thousand screamed in agony and anger as he dissolved and vanished forever, his curse forever broken and lifted from the Barians. Dark Mist once more was sealed into his card and absorbed by Astral. 

“You did it. Don Thousand is gone,” Astral turned to Nash. Everyone looked at Vector as they flew back up into the sky, the clouds disappearing in a flash as they spread their wings, turning the sky back into a clear blue when Earth and Barian World unfused by the power of the Crimson Dragon. With everyone teleported back to the pier in Heartland and Vector still illuminating the sky, Astral turned to Nash. 

“Don Thousand is gone. Very well done,” he spoke and Nash turned to him, the mark still burning bright on his arm. 

“But your mission is not over yet, right,” Nash stated and Astral nodded, which caused the other Barians to tense up. 

“My full mission is to destroy Barian World,” he paused for a bit, waiting if the six Barians have something to say, “But I won’t. Don Thousand is gone and his curses is lifted. There is no need to do such a thing now,” He gave them a soft smile and the six relaxed. 

“Kotori, my love, I’m so sorry for hurting you,” Alito cried and went over to the girl, who assured him that it was fine and he didn’t need to worry. Mizael went over to Kaito and looked a bit worried as well. 

“Are you alright?” 

“I guess...? I was pretty sure I was about to die,” Kaito confessed and let out a quiet nervous laugh. 

“It was very close, Master Kaito,” Orbital piped up, who was still formed as the space suit. 

The bright light that was Vector vanished and they landed back in front of them in their normal form, the Crimson Dragon rising back up behind them and looking down at them. Vector immediately leaned down to their fellow emperors and stared at all of them. 

“What’s wrong?” Durbe asked Mizael, who sighed with a small smile. 

“They’re just making sure we’re alright. And Merag,” she looked at him, “You have my permission to start cooing them,” He didn’t have to tell her twice as she immediately went to pat Vectors cheek and cuddle them and say “You’re such a good dragon~ Yes, you saved us all~ We love you so much~,” in her typical baby voice which caused Vector to wiggle their tail happily. That sight made Yuma laugh a little. 

“I will still have to reclaim the numbers from you,” Astral told then and the Barians nodded and let Astral absorb their numbers, but giving them back their Mytherian Numbers. 

“No matter what, these rightfully belong to you,” he told them and gave Djinn Buster to Nash as well. 

“What now?” Kotori asked, “What about everyone that is gone?” 

“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” Yuma answered and waved back to the three Arclight brothers, who came running towards them. With the de-fusion of Earth and Barian World, the Crimson Dragon also revived everyone who had lost their lives during the fusion. 

“So, it’s officially over?” Yuma asked Astral and Nash, who both nodded. He let out a relived sigh. Vector started to glow in a red light that covered their entire body. When the light was gone, instead of a dragon, a human was standing there. Orange hair hanging down which turned black at the tip and one of their eyebrows red while the other was their normal orange. They stared at their hands in confusing but then lost their balance and almost fell if Merag hadn’t caught them. Everyone was staring at them in confusion but they just looked at the Crimson Dragon, who gave them a short glance and then disappeared back into the sky. 

“Vector?” Merag asked slowly and the other turned back to look at her. They tilted their head and stared at her with violet eyes with a hint of orange in them. Then they put their arms around her in what seemed to be a hug and made grabbing motion towards the other Barians. 

“I think someone wants a hug,” Quattro, who by now had reached them together with his brothers, joked. But none of the other Barians hesitated and immediately went in for a big group hug. 

“So, Vector is a human now?” Alito asked through tears, happy and relieved that everyone is okay and that everything is over. 

“I can still sense them a dragon. I guess they’re now able to take a form human as well, just like Jinlong,” Mizael answered when Jinlong appeared next to them. 

“That is true,” he spoke and his sudden appearance spooked the Barians. “Though I am surprised that you managed to call forth the Crimson Dragon” 

“So, you know what just happened?” Durbe asked the elder man. 

“Oh yes. The Crimson Dragon is an almighty cosmic entity, almost as old as time itself. It usually has six dragons as servants to help them fight, but they vanished a long time ago. But it seems that Vector is one of the Crimson Dragons servants.” 

“Yeah, I think their memories showed something like that,” Nash commented and looked back down at his arm, the mark had vanished when the Crimson Dragon left. 

“Guess it has no need for a Signer right now,” Jinlong looked at him, “But when the time comes, I’m sure it will choose one of you again to fight side by side with Vector.” 

“Is Vector going to leave now?” Alito asked in shocked and pulled the now smaller Vector closer. 

“Oh no, don’t worry. Vector is going to stay with you, otherwise the Crimson Dragon would have taken them with them,” Jinlong reassured him. 

After a while, Astral parted ways with them as he had to return to Astral World for now, but promised a heartbroken Yuma to return soon. Kaito left for his home as well, companied by the Arclights. Yuma and Kotori left as well to look after their friends who had fought this battle with them. The Barians returned to Barian World for now. And despite Don Thousands curse being broke, they were able to retake their Barian form there, they guessed it was the work of the Crimson Dragon as well. And as a little surprise, Vector now sported a normal Barian form of their own, with grey skin and hair, parts of their body black with small magenta gems on their body and hair, and a short grey sarong similar to Mizaels, and a pair of wings and a tail. The blond feared that he had to teach them how walk all over again, which he luckily didn’t had to in the end. For now, they all settled down and recovered from the fight. 

A month later, normality had returned to Heartland City and Yuma was on his way to school and just barely made it in time. There, he met up with Kotori and the others, as well as Trey and Alito, who had rejoined the school as a first-year student and was sorted into Yuma’s class. He heard someone call his name and he saw Nash waving over to them. He, Merag and Girag also joined and were second-year students, with Ponta lazily dragged over Girags board shoulders and enjoying the morning sun. Next to them and wearing the third-year uniform were Durbe and Mizael. Vector stayed at the house they all now lived in, with Jinlong and Mach, who also resumed a human form, as their babysitter while the Barians were at school. They also found out that Vector was very interested in National Graphics so they spent a good time of their day sitting in front of the TV and watching many documentaries. Mizael also told Nash that they should visit Vector’s ruins once they all settled in, telling him that they might be able to find the other dragons, since he knew from the lion that they should be alive somewhere. Nash agreed to that but they decided that they wouldn’t tell Vector right now, not wanting to get their hopes up in case they wouldn’t be able to find anything. They had time. They didn’t need to rush anything. 

_________

Big thanks to my Beta [jess-jessitiz](https://jess-jessitiz.tumblr.com/) on tumblr! And check out the [amazing](https://trickbuster.tumblr.com/post/625467940402233344/my-piece-for-kira-hayashi-s-big-bang-fic) [art](https://staravya.tumblr.com/post/625467415535534080/kira-hayashis-the-dragon-of-barian-ygobigbang) by [trickbuster](https://trickbuster.tumblr.com/) and [staravya](https://staravya.tumblr.com/) on tumblr! 


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